Absolutely blown away.

Rating: 8/10 (24 July 2013)

I'm writing this because I lost a bet with a friend of mine. I said that if I like this film I'd write my first ever IMDb review. What can I say? I lost.
Going in skeptical that this was going to be a CGI monstrosity with little plot, lots of explosions, and bad acting, I was beyond surprised when I found myself lost in the film. Charlie Hunnam's performance wasn't top notch acting but he pulled off his character well without overacting. The responses by other characters in the film seemed genuine and almost realistic. Idris Elba was perfectly chosen for his role. The Jaeger battles were shot, from what I perceived, as if someone were nearby watching the battle unfold. Another point I liked was the love story between Hunnam's character and Rinko Kikuchi's character, Mako. Well, I should say "implied love story". Only in one line of dialogue was it even referenced. Their relationship was merely implied to the audience and then left to simmer as to not take away from the rest of the story.
The rest of the supporting cast did well, but I thought their roles were rather short. The Russian and Chinese pilots had very little screen time but once again it seemed the film was made to be more realistic with more real-world emotional responses. In that respect it was well done.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would. 3D is the only way to see this film. I'm not a big fan of 3D but this is one film that really uses it well.